Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > The black ibook

The black ibook
Thread Tools
the_snitch
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 16, 2005, 07:44 AM
 
Ok, heres the plan:

I really love the white shiny finish of the ibooks, but there are times that i wish i had a shiny black ibook.
Yes, i know all about www.colorwarepc.com, and yes their black ibooks do look very nice, but there is no way i can justify a $400 paint job.
Plus, they do a pretty bad job on the ibooks - they leave the keyboard, cd bezel, trackpad and the I/O bracket all white.

Since i am currently working as an Apple tech, at an Apple authorised service provider, i get access to all sorts of goodies. I was mucking around and found a Powerbook Ti black keyboard. This got me thinking that it could provide the perfect finishing touch to a proper paint job.

Now the powerbook keyboard does not fit straight out of the box, but what someone with patience can do is snap of each individual key and swap it for the ibooks white keys (I did this one afternoon). I actually think this looks nicer than the original ibook keyboard (the keys are translucent black, and have the nice italic font printed on them).



I also have an ibook g4 shell lying around from some lady who spilled drink all through her machine and fried the logic board.
Part B of the plan is taking the empty shell to a contact i have who works in the car painting industry. He is a heavy PC modder, and paints PC peripherals and cases in his spare time with car paints. He is painting the ibook shell a gloss black as we speak.
I will post more pics when i recieve the shell back, and then i will re-assemble the ibook for the final product (provided the shell comes back looking veeery nice

Update 1: 19/1/04

Just got the bits back. They look veeery nice. Take a peek
Should be together later tonight



Update 2:
Check my pic further down this page for a pic
( Last edited by the_snitch; Jan 19, 2005 at 07:42 AM. )
     
andretan
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Singapore
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 16, 2005, 10:42 AM
 
Sent ya an e-mail.
mac.goodies webstore / Switched to an iBook in November 2002. Never looking back.
iBook R.I.P. 20 Nov 2002 - 2 Aug 2005
Hello Leopard! On iMac 17" Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz 2GB, iPod 5th gen 30GB and iPhone
     
dt_
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jan 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 16, 2005, 12:40 PM
 
Dude - that's awesome! Please keep posting your progress on here, heh.

Btw, if you're just getting a shell painted black, are you sure you can put that shell onto a working iBook?
Dell Dimension 4550
Apple iPod (4th gen, 20 GB)

Apple iBook G4 | 1.2 GHz | Combo | 30 GB | 768 MB | Airport Extreme | Mac OS X 10.3
     
iREZ
Professional Poster
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Los Angeles of the East
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 16, 2005, 03:49 PM
 
That alone looks gorgeous. Keep up the great work!
NOW YOU SEE ME! 2.4 MBP and 2.0 MBP (running ubuntu)
     
the_snitch  (op)
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 16, 2005, 04:58 PM
 
Originally posted by dt_:

Btw, if you're just getting a shell painted black, are you sure you can put that shell onto a working iBook?
Yes i know what im doing ;-)
Im transferring all the electronics and system board into the painted shell. The only thing that im worried about is if the trackpad still works ok, but im pretty sure that its fine.
     
macaddict0001
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Edmonton, AB
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 16, 2005, 07:02 PM
 
I've heard that if you paint the trackpad that it won't work very well, perhaps if you just covered it with a piece of black vinyl(like on those car stickers)
     
ixus_123
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: London, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 16, 2005, 10:36 PM
 
there was a link to a company that supplied loads of different colour keys for the iBook keyboard both marked & unmarked - everything black, white, red blue etc.

I'm sure I saw it on this site in the modding section - would have been quite a while ago though
iBook G3 366mhz as a web server:
http://kieren.demon.co.uk/wordpress/
     
cold aspiration
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Jan 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 18, 2005, 02:57 AM
 
^ that sounds so cool. I tried searching.. couldn't find it. Anyone else get results?
     
the_snitch  (op)
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 18, 2005, 06:53 AM
 
Ok i will be recieving the bits back tomorrow afternoon. From the sounds of it on the phone, all went well. It'll take me a good hour or two to reassemble it i think.

My ibook has seen so many mods in its short lifetime :-)

Original 800mhz
+ 640mb ram
+ internal bluetooth
+ 60gb hitachi travelstar 7200rpm hard disk
+ powerbook keyboard
+ Paint!

Accessories i also have are a clear keyboard iSkin i used when i had the white keyboard, and i have a sweet 12" bag. Oh, and a cigarette-socket car power adaptor, so i can hotspot outside people's houses forever.
     
barang
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: South Carolina
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 18, 2005, 03:08 PM
 
Keep us posted on the final result.
"But the beauty of Grace is that it makes life not fair."

My Flickr
     
Ayers
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: New York City
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 18, 2005, 04:18 PM
 
If this iBook of mine didn't get enrolled to an APP, I would consider your mod or something like it. It looks quite attractive the way you show it, and let's face it, the PowerBook's keys are probably nicer to the touch, even. Good luck with your continued modding, and please show pics.
     
the_snitch  (op)
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 19, 2005, 07:41 AM
 
Just finished and it looks soo sweet. Remember, these are car-quality paints

Full pics coming soon, but for now im going to bed.

Heres a teaser for ya

     
andretan
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Singapore
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 19, 2005, 09:29 AM
 
Sweeeeeeeet.
mac.goodies webstore / Switched to an iBook in November 2002. Never looking back.
iBook R.I.P. 20 Nov 2002 - 2 Aug 2005
Hello Leopard! On iMac 17" Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz 2GB, iPod 5th gen 30GB and iPhone
     
Leonard
Professional Poster
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 19, 2005, 12:23 PM
 
Looks beautiful. Can we see some more pics. Looks like the trackpad might not look too bad.
Mac Pro Dual 3.0 Dual-Core
MacBook Pro
     
songoku912
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Missoula for now, NYC 4ever
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 19, 2005, 12:29 PM
 
That looks pretty bad ass.
     
iREZ
Professional Poster
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Los Angeles of the East
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 19, 2005, 02:51 PM
 
WOW!! That looks great.
NOW YOU SEE ME! 2.4 MBP and 2.0 MBP (running ubuntu)
     
Ayers
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: New York City
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 20, 2005, 06:51 AM
 


I burn with jealousy.
     
Paco Loco
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: London, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 20, 2005, 09:31 AM
 
Name your price snitch!!
     
tungtied07
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Leawood, KS
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 20, 2005, 10:17 AM
 
wow awesome job!! The black paint job looks great on the ibook!
15" PowerBook 1.5GHz (CTO): SuperDrive, 5400rpm 80GB 16mb Cache, 1.5GB RAM/Backlit Keyboard/Radeon 9700 128MB/MacOS X 10.4.2
     
Paco Loco
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: London, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 21, 2005, 06:07 AM
 
More pics please!!!
     
f1000
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 21, 2005, 06:39 AM
 


Behold the broBook, also known as the Black Panther!

If you colored the mousepad, keyboard, and the Apple red, you could have an iBook U2 edition.
     
historylme
Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 21, 2005, 02:19 PM
 
That is pretty awesome!
     
ajprice
Professional Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 22, 2005, 02:38 PM
 
Looks nice, really nice. Is the black paint on the inside of the shell parts or the outside?

It'll be much easier if you just comply.
     
jbomb
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jun 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 22, 2005, 04:11 PM
 
holy crap that is awesome.
     
Ricky
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 23, 2005, 03:10 AM
 
Great job!
     
nredman
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Minnesota - Twins Territory
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 23, 2005, 05:28 PM
 
looks great, i tried once to paint my g3 ibook but mostly just f'd it up trying to get it apart

"I'm for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniel's."
     
cold aspiration
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Jan 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 23, 2005, 05:51 PM
 
is it possible to buy a keyboard from apple and replace the keys? I found something like g3 pbook bronze keyboard uner do it yourself repairs.
     
Paco Loco
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: London, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 25, 2005, 06:36 AM
 
Pleeeease can we have some more pics??!
     
barang
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: South Carolina
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 25, 2005, 03:08 PM
 
Originally posted by Paco Loco:
Pleeeease can we have some more pics??!
I second the motion.
"But the beauty of Grace is that it makes life not fair."

My Flickr
     
the_snitch  (op)
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 26, 2005, 01:29 AM
 
Your prayers have been answered





Note how the edge of the lid framing the screen is white. My friend originally forgot to paint it as he had the lid face down when he sprayed it. I was gunna take it back for him to finish, but ended up just sanding the edge smooth white. It actually looks real nice.
Also, the tabs on the keyboard i forgot to get painted But, im getting them done, dont worry
     
jaimzedup
Forum Regular
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Dallas, TX
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 26, 2005, 01:52 AM
 
I want one.
     
macaddict0001
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Edmonton, AB
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 26, 2005, 03:20 AM
 
gotta try it with the white keyboard.
     
Paco Loco
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: London, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 26, 2005, 09:31 AM
 
Totally rad!! Thanks for the pics snitch.



I want an orange one...
     
spacefreak
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: NJ, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jan 27, 2005, 12:22 AM
 
That's great. Excellent job using all your resources to pull that thing together.

Please email me the tracking number once you ship it. I want to make sure I'm home when it's due to be delivered.
     
the_snitch  (op)
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 4, 2005, 06:31 PM
 
Ok ive had a few emails from people that may want to attempt this. The following shows my concerns. For example

"Hey i'm trying to clear mine out right now, its 3 months old, what did you use to get the paint off? i'm not having any luck at all. thanks man for the help and email me back at *********"

No man, its the g3 ibooks that have a transparent shell with paint on the inside.
The g4 ibooks are opaque white plastic!
Mine has car paint on the outside of the shell. Seriously, your going to attempt to pull it apart? Its not an easy task trust me, esp. If you dont have the right tools.
I would not recommend you to pull it apart unless you want to ruin your ibook

Im trained to do it. To give you an idea, heres the list of things you have to pull apart to get to just the display module (in order)
. Battery
. Keyboard and ram shield
. Airport extreme card
. Memory card
. bottom case
. Bottom shield
. DC-in board
. Top case
. Top Shield
. Modem

And each step may take you 15-20 mins because you havn't tried before. It is very labour intensive.
If you feel you have the skills, i can give you some tips, but if you havn't done something like this before i would not recommend it for the reasons stated above!
     
afireinside
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Dec 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 7, 2005, 09:08 AM
 
I thought the ibook G4s were painted on the inside? I saw pics of the white ibooks painted from the inside...
     
Xaero
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: My desk
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 7, 2005, 01:54 PM
 
Very nice work there I think apple should offer a choice of colors like they did with the ipod except not U2. That would be cool having a choice between white and black

Powerbook 15" coming soon...
     
ajprice
Professional Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 7, 2005, 04:19 PM
 
Originally posted by afireinside:

I thought the ibook G4s were painted on the inside? I saw pics of the white ibooks painted from the inside...

Some iBooks (I think the white G3 ones) had the clear plastic cases painted white on the inside, the newer (G4?) iBooks have solid white plastic casings.

It'll be much easier if you just comply.
     
B Gallagher
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 7, 2005, 06:43 PM
 
man.. that black iBook looks friggen awesome.. wicked job.
MBP 15" C2D 2.2GHz 4.0GB 500GB@5400
iPhone 4 32GB Black
     
bimmerphile
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Boise, ID
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 10, 2005, 01:25 PM
 
sweet. I always wanted my ibook bright pink. thanks!








just kidding. black is sweet.
-Kris Olson | 12" PBG4 1.5GHz
     
bimmerphile
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Boise, ID
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 14, 2005, 01:13 PM
 
for what it's worth, if anyone wants to attempt this but doesn't want their iBook sitting around in parts while it gets painted, I have all the case parts from my dead 12" iBook G4 for sale here

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...90#post2405990

Lets see someone make a sweet iBook out of em!
-Kris Olson | 12" PBG4 1.5GHz
     
monkeybutler
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 15, 2005, 06:07 PM
 
this thread has depressed me. i know most mac fans swear to the idea that white is the best color ever. but ive held back from getting an ibook for 3 years because i absolutely hate the idea of a white notebook.

while the black paintjob looks great, its obviously not as pretty as it could have been if apple would just release a black iBook themselves. id prefer to run OSX on my laptop, but i dont think i need to use a color i hate in order to do so.
     
Agent69
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Feb 16, 2005, 02:03 PM
 
That black iBook is sweet.
Agent69
     
jesmanuel
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: May 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 31, 2005, 05:23 PM
 
Hi I want paint my ibook black but I do not how take out the case. The screen case is easy but the other I try but failed. Somebody have instruction,manual,step by step or diragram to do tha. Thanks for your help. Regards Jesmanuel
     
mpancha
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Toronto, ON
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 31, 2005, 07:58 PM
 
that is amazing! Good job man. All that's missing is a dark theme for os x
MacBook Pro | 2.16 ghz core2duo | 2gb ram | superdrive | airport extreme
iBook G4 | 1.2ghz | 768mb ram | combodrive | airport extreme
iPhone 3GS | 32 GB | Jailbreak, or no Jailbreak
     
belafonte
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 31, 2005, 09:27 PM
 
I want a black Imac
     
Nerozwei
Forum Regular
Join Date: Dec 2002
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 1, 2005, 05:50 AM
 
Originally Posted by belafonte
I want a black Imac
There ye go. Don't know about the quality of the finish though...
     
PacHead
Baninated
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Capital of the World
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 9, 2005, 07:27 PM
 
That black ibook looks cool ! I don't like the white trackpad, but I guess it would be dumb to paint that.



Don't worry, before Apple got their current white laptop fetish, they released tons of black/dark powerbooks.

Soon, they will switch back again, and release black powerbooks/ibooks/whatever. The whole white thing is a trend, and trends come and go.

I can see it now. A sleek, black Mac Powerbook/ibook will be released in 2006 along with the intel laptop chip inside. Since, according to certain nuts on this forum, Apple has now joined the dark side, so that would only be fitting !

( Last edited by PacHead; Jun 9, 2005 at 07:38 PM. )
     
Macpilot
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 12, 2005, 12:19 AM
 
Nice job dude!

I painted an iBook a few years ago and it came out pretty good, but I did not replace the keyboard. That really looks production-quality.
MacBook Pro
Mac Mini
     
inprnt
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 13, 2005, 05:28 PM
 
You should have your own service, like some one said earlier I don't like the white ibook and I would pay to get an ibook like yours.
     
 
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:23 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,